Media Super invests $1m in orchestra fund

Media Super has become the second largest investor in the Australian Chamber Orchestra Instrument Fund after taking a 17 per cent stake.

Media Super has invested $1 million in the fund and another $1 million to the Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) fund’s next acquisition, according to a statement.

The ACO Instrument Fund allows wholesale investors to invest in “historic stringed instruments” and currently holds under asset two violins and a cello made from the so-called ‘golden age’ of instrument making during the 17th and 18th century.

The three instruments together are worth around $7 million, according to the statement.

ACO managing director Richard Evans welcomed Media Super’s investment, which he said was a “significant contribution to Australia’s cultural landscape” and assisted the “future of fine music in Australia”.

“The golden age instruments we acquire through the ACO Instrument Fund are selected not only for their capital appreciation, but also to provide a quality of sound that contributes to the ACO and enhances its international standing,” Mr Evans said.

Regarding the fund’s returns, Media Super chief executive Graeme Russell said, “a compound growth rate of almost 6 per cent per annum is modest but reasonable given the low volatility of the asset class.”

Current unitholders of the fund consist of 37 individuals, companies, family trusts, foundations and SMSFs, the statement said.